In the manufacture of semiconductor chips, as known in the prior art, a plurality of components or devices such as memories are formed on a semiconductor substrate. The components on the substrate are then tested, and if a component is non-functional or can not operate within a predetermined criteria, the component is disabled and no longer utilized. This testing occurs during the manufacturing process, and thereafter no further changes of this type can be made to the chip. This is a drawback, especially in the field of video encoder/decoders that use a plurality of analog to digital converters, and digital to analog converters. Having a large plurality of redundant converters results in large chip size and low production yield.
It is thus a drawback of the prior art that the components on a semiconductor chip cannot be dynamically reconfigured for processing different types of signals, such as video and audio signals.